On protagonizar ‘an event’ and the scope of the concept of ‘light verb’

Abstract

This chapter is based on a previous article in which the features of protagonizar and some other related verbs – usually labelled as agentive or similative – were analyzed. Now it is argued that protagonizar is not in fact a semi-light verb, despite the similarities that it shares with them. It is claimed that the features of the utterances in which protagonizar appears may be explained through the basic meaning of the verb, the semantic, sub-lexic, encyclopaedic or frame properties of the noun which is expressed as the object, and the interaction between both parameters. After examining the behavior of light and semi-light verbs, it is argued that these features really make verbs like lanzar, cultivar, adquirir, organizar or planear a special kind of verbs, extending the category. Keywords: Denominal verbs; agentive verbs; similative verbs; light verbs